A Fated Love
by Get Your Southern On Contest
Summary: Edward finds a nearly dead Bella too close to his mountain home for it to be mere conscience. What he discovers is that fate can work in strange ways. Contest Entry 9. Written by PetersSugarTits Here's where you can find her other work just delete spaces: www. fanfiction .net /u /4737527 /PetersSugarTits


**Title: A Fated Love**

**Fandom: Twilight**

**Pairing: Edward/Bella**

**Summary: Edward finds a nearly dead Bella too close to his mountain home for it to be mere conscience. What he discovers is that fate can work in strange ways.**

**Rating: MA, mature themes**

**Word Count: 2529**

The moon was the only illumination that shone over the mountains, an unnatural haze lingered over the peaks of the Florence Nature Preserve in the mountains of North Carolina. In his room, Edward Cullen shivered unnecessarily as he stood staring out of his floor to ceiling windows. For a summer night, the air was unnaturally cold and the sky held an eeriness that, despite all of his years on Earth, he couldn't put his finger on. Though his gift was reading minds, he could feel an evil lurking out in the shadows of the Preserve.

He turned on some music, hoping to ease the disquiet that he was feeling from staring out into the night but couldn't pull himself away from the window for long. He knew that there was something out there. It made him uneasy in a way that he was unaccustomed. It was calling to him and so he quietly left his room.

The house was silent, aside from the background noise of the other's thoughts. Edward had learned early on how to hear them but not listen to them and now they only represented a low buzz of background noise to him. He wasn't certain where he was going, or why, he allowed his body to be moved by the unknown thing that had captured his attention tonight. He passed Carlisle and Esme's room, past the dining room with it's underused table, and through the living room out onto the large deck that surrounded the house and provided breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains that surrounded them.

The moon danced among the thick clouds of the night making it difficult, even with his perfect night vision, for his eyes to clearly see. There was something out here; something for him alone to see. He turned to a faint path into the Preserve that his family used infrequently and gasped in shock. There was a body, unmoving, with its arm stretched towards the house and its hair splayed in a matted halo.

"Damnit," Edward muttered as he leapt over the deck.

The drop to the ground below was insignificant to him, and didn't slow him as he raced to the prone form in a blur of motion. The ill-defined trail tore at his clothing, not marring his impenetrable skin. He dropped to his knees at the figure and cupped its ice-cold cheek gently.

"No," he whispered.

Now that he was closer, he could see that this was a young woman; a starving and abused young woman by the looks of her. She was in dire need of help. Her clothes were nothing more than shredded cloth and dried blood matted her hair to her head. She needed help, healing, and she needed it quickly. Edward picked up the limp form, cradling her in his arms and began the trek back to the house.

"Carlisle," Edward called as he leapt onto the deck with the body, "I need you."

Carlisle soon appeared in the living room and with a quick glance at the body shook his head.

"Her situation is severe, Edward," Carlisle said. "Get her to your room and I will do the best I can for her but…"

Edward could hear Carlisle's thoughts about the hopelessness of the situation. There was a very good chance that the young woman might not survive the night.

"I will do it," Edward said with determination as he laid the form on his bed, knowing that biting her; changing her from a human into a young vampire would be the only chance to save her.

"Quickly," Carlisle said as he worked to make the girl more comfortable. "It will help if you sit here with her through the change. She will need to see a friendly face when she awakens from this and you are the closest thing she has right now."

"I will stay as long as it takes," Edward said with his face hardening into determination, "I will not let her die."

The enticing smell of the girl only briefly touched Edward's thoughts as he bent his mouth to her neck. He sank his teeth into the soft skin there and forced his venom deep into her veins. He hoped that his attention wasn't too late to help her.

Edward pulled a chair next to the bed and took over caring for the unconscious young woman as she changed. He gently wiped the dried blood from her face and hair with cool water. When she'd been cleaned as best as he could while respecting her modesty, he took her hand and sat back in his chair to wait through the next three days of her change.

"Where…where am I," a soft voice asked, bringing Edward out of his thoughts.

Edward was confused by the gentleness with which she awoke. He knew that newborns were usually uncontrollable, but as he'd sat beside her during her change he knew that she was different. He knew that there was something special about this young woman that would follow her into her life as a new vampire.

"I found you last night," Edward said. "You were unconscious and nearly dead on a path coming from the Preserve. I brought you here and my father tended to you. Please tell me your name and how you came to be here."

"My name is Bella," the young vampire said, "I come from Forks, Washington. I was on an errand for my father's friend, to deliver an important message to Caius Volturi in Italy."

Edward leaned in closer and began to gently stroke Bella's hand, encouraging her to continue.

"All I remember is standing in a chamber before three men, and then terror. I tried to escape, but there were too many of them. I had no protection and they…" Bella broke off with a sob.

"It's alright," Edward encouraged her, "You're safe now."

"They attacked me," Bella sobbed, "All I remember is the pain after."

"You're very fortunate," Edward said as he smiled at Bella and stroked her hair. "Not many people live through an encounter with the Volturi."

It was more than luck that Bella had ended up near Batcave, North Carolina and that Edward had been the one to discover her. Now that they were together, it felt like destiny had been hard at work to make this chance encounter happen. Bella was meant to be here and Edward was meant to have found her. Why, Edward didn't know but he felt certain that it was true.

It didn't hurt that Bella was one of the most beautiful creatures Edward had ever seen. Her long brown hair contrasted with her large eyes that were the deep blood red of a newborn vampire. Her petite, womanly figure, half-hidden by the bed linens, was a further distraction for him. Edward could hardly suppress his desire to run his hands along her soft curves. He struggled to keep his feelings under control. Bella had just come through a traumatic ordeal and now was not the time for romance. She still had a long way to travel.

Within three days, Bella had adjusted well enough to leave her room unescorted. Esme found some new clothes for her, and she was able to wander the house and deck by herself. She'd quickly mastered her new strength and speed as if she'd always been waiting to become a vampire. There was none of the adjustment shock that most newborn vampires experienced. The one thing that troubled Bella was the absence of Edward at her side. Since the morning when she'd awoken at the Cullen house, she'd not seen Edward and she felt an ache deep within from his absence. It was as if he'd simply disappeared. She'd asked Carlisle several times where his son was, but Carlisle had been vague with his answers. Edward was gone without a trace and without a word to her.

Bella desperately wanted to speak with Edward again, to properly thank him for saving her life. She also just wanted to see the handsome vampire just once more to assure her that it all wasn't a grand hallucination caused by her change from human into vampire. She couldn't explain it, but she felt a deep connection with Edward, either forged by his lifesaving act or by some other power, she was uncertain. She knew that Edward was someone special; someone she had to see again. No one could bring her out of the melancholy that his absence brought her though they tried. She rarely spoke other than to ask about Edward.

As the time passed while he was gone, she learned a great deal about Edward and his family from Esme who became a great comfort to her. Esme's motherly attention filled a need in Bella that she didn't realize she was lacking, and she welcomed it though it didn't make her feel whole again. She knew that only Edward's presence would be able to do that for her.

Carlisle spent time with Bella as she stared into the distant fog of the mountains with a lost expression on her face; he spoke with her about the realities of her new existence as a vampire. He assured her that she would never be alone, but she questioned the reality of that since she felt so alone without Edward by her side. She knew that the Cullens would never cast her out but she didn't feel less alone for the knowledge. She longed for Edward's presence but never mentioned those feelings to either of her Cullen companions.

It wasn't until a week after Bella's change that Edward returned unexpectedly to the Cullen house. He ran up the same path where Bella had been found while she sat on the deck watching the fog retreat to the mountain peaks once more; a lumpy knapsack hung limply at his side. Their eyes met and he launched himself onto the deck and upended the knapsack at her feet. Two heads rolled to a stop at Bella's feet, their cloudy eyes staring blankly up at her in horror.

"Here are your Volturi!" Edward said with hatred burning deep from within him, "I found them hiding in a cave not far from here."

"You…you killed them," Bella asked with wide eyes. "All of them? By yourself?"

"I couldn't let such dangerous creatures roam free so close to our home," Edward answered, staring deeply into Bella's eyes. "And I did it for you. They nearly killed you."

Bella could feel a tightening in her chest as Edward spoke. Edward had killed these Volturi monsters…for her. Before she could stop herself, she leapt at Edward and threw her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his in what she hoped was a chaste show of thanks. She wasn't ready for him to see the desire that she felt for him yet; she was still too vulnerable to open herself up to rejection by him.

"What was that for," Edward laughed in surprise, but didn't pull away from Bella.

"Just a thank you," Bella said with a shy smile as she noticed the look in Edward's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Bella," Edward said with a husky voice, "I have to confess something to you."

Bella stepped away from Edward, worried that in her impulsiveness she had driven Edward away. She was afraid that he would be repulsed by the changes in her from when he discovered her, dying, on the pathway to the house. She didn't want to ask about his confession; for fear that he would reject her. She tried to dismiss the rightness that she'd felt as she held him with her lips pressed to his diamond-like skin.

"That first morning you were here," Edward continued with his husky voice. "I thought you were so beautiful. I wanted to kiss you then, to run my hands along your curves, to claim you as my own. But I didn't know how you would react to that."

"Me," Bella gasped in shock.

"I told myself not to because of the terrible ordeal you'd just suffered," Edward continued, gently placing a hand on Bella's shoulder. "It wasn't the right time. These past few days while I was gone, I could only think of you. You consumed my mind during my hunt for these Volturi bastards. And now…"

"Edward," Bella whispered, "I thought about you too. It consumed me. I was worried that I would never see you again and that this emptiness would never leave me."

"I'm sorry that I ran off like that, love," Edward said as he cupped Bella's cheek. "I should have said something to you."

"There's something that I've been considering over the past few days," Bella said, taking a deep breath. "I think we were meant to find each other. What happened to me…it was no accident. I was meant to come here and you were meant to rescue me.

A broad smile broke across Edward's face at Bella's words. Her face lit up equally as bright in response. He ran his fingers through her hair and it was as soft as he had imagined it as he sat by her side.

"You know," he said, "I was thinking the same thing. That night when I found you I had been worried and unable to think. Some strange power led me out to the deck, and that was when I saw you."

"So you think," Bella said as she took Edward's hand and gave it a squeeze, "we are meant to be together?"

"I have no doubt of it," Edward answered.

Edward leaned in and lightly brushed his lips over Bella's. A swelling sense of home filled the both of them as the kiss deepened.

"I love you," Edward whispered.

"I love you too Edward," Bella said breathlessly in return.

Edward wrapped his arms around Bella and scooped her up. He didn't break their kiss as he carried her to his room, their room now. He put her on her feet and closed the door.

"Edward," Bella gasped at his touch, "I want to be yours forever."

"You already are," Edward said as he pulled off his shirt.

Edward's lips found her skin and placed gentle kisses down her neck as his hands removed her shirt. They were both nervous, and it showed in their trembling hands and tentative touches. The inexperience the two of them shared melted away as they each focused on the other. Edward's mouth elicited gasps of pleasure as he tasted her rose tipped peaks and Bella's gentle stokes quickly hardened Edward's manhood. The innocent nature that they came together with was a dance of eternal love that would mark them as each other's own. The awkwardness of a first time was lost on them. They felt the depth of each thrust affirming the oneness that they shared within the core of their being. They cried out in pleasure together as they fell over the peak of completion as the one that they now were.

After, as they lay in each other's arms, Edward pressed a kiss to Bella's forehead and she smiled up at him. They were both content in the knowledge that they had found the missing part of their soul.


End file.
